Slack-line excavator



Feb. 23 1926; 1,574,248, A. M. H000;

SLACK LINE EXCAVATOR Filed Dec. 27, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Feb. 23,1926.

v A. M.HOOD

SLACK LINE EXCAVATOH 2. Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec; 27, 1925 INVENTOR N Patented Feb. 23, R726.

UNITE ARTHUR M. noon, on lNBIANAEOLIS, INDIANA.

SLACK-LINE EXCAYATOR.

Application filed. December 27, 1923. Serial No 682321.

To all whom it may concern. 1 I

lie it known that I. l-XRTHUR' M. Hoop, a citizen of the United States residing at indianapolis, in the county of Marion and F'Itate of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Slack-Line Excavator, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is'to provide certain improvements in construction of a scraper bucket type of excavator, commonly known as a slack line excavator, by'means of which material may be" excavated at one point and dumped at another. panying drawings illustrate my invention.- 1

Fig. 1 is a sideelevation-ofan embodiment of my invention; Fig; 2 a. plan ofthe carriage and supporting track cable; Fig. 3 afront elevation of the carriage, and Fig. it a fragmentary vertical section with the parts in position as shown immediately preceding gravity dumping action.

In the drawings a 10 indicates a track cable upon which the apparatus is most conveniently mounted and operated, said track cable being generally arranged with its lower end attached to a dead man and its upper end attached to a suitable blockand tackle by which the track. cable may be conveniently slackened and tautened, this construction being common and wellknown in the art.

Movably mounted upon and along the track cable is a carriage 11 from-which is suspended, by means of the suspension member 12, a forwardly unbalanced scraper bucket 13.

Located in the lower forward portion of carriage 11 is a double idler l t-composed of two slightly spaced port-ions each having a chain supported peripheral 14', the two parts being so arranged that the lifting chain 15 may ride thereon without entering the space 16 between the two portions of idler 1-1, to normally support the forwardly unbalanced weight of bucket 13.

-As a part of chain 15 I provide a long link 17 the thickness of which is such as to permit its entry into the space 16, the points of attachment 17 and 17 between the upper and lower portions of chain 15, respectively, and link 17, and the link, being so proportioned that, when the parts are drawn to the position shown in Fig. 1, the point of attachment 17 will be at the periphery 14, link 17 will lie within space 16, and the point of attachment 17 eifec- The accon y 7 longltudinally shdable in carriage 11 and tivcly nearer the axis of idler than is the point of attachment 17. Preferably these proportions are such that the point 17' will be in advance of the vertical plane of the axis of idler 14 and the point of attachn'ient 17 will be either directly beneath or slightly in advalice' thereof, in. which latter case the unbalanced weight of the bucket and its load will have notendency to move the link 17 rearwardly.

The upper end of link 17, when the parts are in load-carrying pos1tion,-l1es immediatelyto the rear of a plungerlO which is projected somewhat in advancethereof so. that it may be brought into engagement with a stop block 23 attached tothe track cable 10 at any desired point of dump. it dragline is bifurcated at 36 and extended to the forward end of the bucket, and a movement of carriage '11 along the track cable, is controlled by a dragline.

The lift line 15 is connected to the dragline, conveniently at the bifurcation 36, the parts beingso proportioned that, when a transporting forward pull is exerted upon the dragline 35 the parts will be drawn to the position shown in. full lines where the link 17, lying inthe space 16,will largely decrease, or preferably, temporarily wholly eliminate the efficiency of the unbalanced weight tending to cause a rearward niove-' ment of the lift line 15 and a consequent dumping of the load.

The operation is as follows: Upon release of pull upon thedragline, the carriage and its supported bucket will run down the inclined track cable 10V to the point 7 of desired excavationgthe track cable being appropriately slacked for that purpose. Forward pull uponthe dra 'line will cause a filling of the scraper bucket-,- and when the track cable is tautened, wit-h an accompanyforward stress upon thedragline, link 17 and its associated parts will bebrought to the position, relative to the carriage, shown in Fig. 1, and the loaded bucket will be transported along the track cable. Just before, or just as, plunger 40 is brought into engagement with stop block 23, forward pull upon the dragline will be quickly discontinued so that the carriage, under its momentum, may continue its forward movement so that there may be a rearward movement of plunger 40 relative to the carriage, to engage link 17 and kick itbackwardly to the position shown in Fig. 4 where the unbalanced load of the bucket will become effective to draw the upper portion of the lift line rearwardly over idler Hand thus permit the forward end of the bucket to swing downwardly and dump its load.

The slacking off of the dragline will, of course, after carriage 11 has come to rest, permit the carriage to move backwardly down along the inclined track cable under the action-of gravity, but this rearward movement of the carriage does not begin until after the unbalanced bucket has started to swing downwardly so that the dumping of the load is not interfered with, although the dumped material is distributed, for some distance, in a rearward direction, due to the concurrent rearward movement of the carriage.

\Vhile some degree ofskill is required of the operator in the. manipulation of this device, that skill is quite readily attained, and if desired, in order to cushion the shock, the stop block 23 may embody a cushioning spring 4:1.

I claim as my invention;

1. An excavator of'the type described oomprising, a carriage, a forwardly unbalanced scraper bucket pivotally supported on said carriage, a dragline connected to the forward end of the bucket, alift line connccted to the forward end of the bucket, and passed over a support on the carriage to the dragline, means for decreasingthe bucket-dumping effectiveness of the forwardly unbalanced weight of the bucket, andmeans movably mounted on the carriage and adapted toco-operate with a stop member and the lift line as a result ofiorwa-rd-move ment of the carriage toward the stop to increase the bucket-clumping effectiveness of the forwardly unbalanced weight of the bucket. r

2. An excavator of the type described comprising, a carriage, a forward-1y unbalanced scraper bucket pivotally supported on said carriage, a draghne connected to the forward end of said bucket, a l ft line connected to said dragline and extended back over a support on the carriageand thence downwardly to the forward end of the bucket, the said lift lineand its carriage support being of: such character that, when the lift line has lifted the bucket to load-carrying position, the effectiveness of the unbalanced weight of the bucket tending to cause rearward movement of the lift line is less than it is just before the bucket reaches load-carrying position,and means movably mounted on the carriage and adapted to co-operate with a stop for acting upon the lift line, as a result of continued forward movement of the carriage relative to the stop, for increasing the bucket-dumpingeffectiveness of the for wardly unbalanced weight of the bucket.

3. An excavator of the type described, comprising, a. carriage, a forwardly unbalanced scraper bucket pivotally supported on said carriage, a d-ragline connected to the forward end of the bucket, a lift line connected to the dragline and extended back over a support on the carriage and thence downwardly to the forward end of the bucket, said chain comprising a link 17 and the support formed to permit the link to move to a position closer to the axis of the support than is permitted the adjacent advance portion of the chain, and means controlled by continued forward movement of the carriage on its support for positively shiftingsaid link rearwardly relatively to its carriage support.

' An excavator of the type described comprising, a carriage, a forwardly unbalanced scraper-bucket pivotally supported on said carriage, a dragline connected to the forward end of the bucket, a lift line con.- nected to the d-ra-gline and extended back over a support on thecarriage and thence downwardly to the forward end of the bucket, said chain comprising a link 17 and the support formed to permit the link to move to a position closer to the axis of the support than is permittedthe adjacent advance portion of the chain, and a plunger longitudinally shiftable on said carriage, said plunger having a portion engaging the lift line and a portion projected forwardly of the carriage to engage a stop whereby continued forward movement of the carriage relative to the plunger will cause said plunger to shift the'link of the lift line rearwardly relative totits carriage support.

In witness whereof, I l kn'rrrrm M. H001) have hereunto set my hand at Chicago, Illinois, this 25th day of December, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and twenty three.

ARTHUR n-noon 

